A genealogy blog by Stephen Mills dedicated to American funeralia, post-mortem photography, mourning customs, and cemeteries. Member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Empty Chairs

This lonesome image affects one emotionally, reminding us that death is essentially a solitary experience, both for the deceased and for those most impacted by the loss. This snapshot depicts a fresh burial from the 1920s; it came from an Austin, Texas estate and was developed by Fox Photo of San Antonio. After the last rites, one or two close family members probably stayed to witness the closing of the grave, and they memorialized the final, solemn moment through this photograph. This calls to mind the famous poem Solitude by Ella Wheeler Wilcox:

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;Weep, and you weep alone.For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,But has trouble enough of its own.Sing, and the hills will answer;Sigh, it is lost on the air.The echoes bound to a joyful sound,But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;Grieve, and they turn and go.They want full measure of all your pleasure,But they do not need your woe.Be glad, and your friends are many;Be sad, and you lose them all.There are none to decline your nectared wine,But alone you must drink life's gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;Fast, and the world goes by.Succeed and give, and it helps you live,But no man can help you die.There is room in the halls of pleasureFor a long and lordly train,But one by one we must all file onThrough the narrow aisles of pain.

And am I born to die? To lay this body down?
And must my trembling spirit fly
Into a world unknown?
A land of deepest shade,
Unpierced by human thought,
The dreary regions of the dead,
Where all things are forgot.Soon as from earth I go,
What will become of me?
Eternal happiness or woe
Must then my portion be;
Waked by the trumpet's sound,
I from my grave shall rise,
And see the Judge with glory crowned,
And see the flaming skies.